When I look back and see what has happened to the black family
and community as a whole because of the absence of good fathers,
I shudder to think of the destruction to come. I believe that,
if this issue is not dealt with honestly, we will someday have
disorder that will be beyond our capability to control.

In my ministering, I come in contact with many young men who
are contemptuous of their fathers. Having been left by their fathers
and living in an environment where they see only weak men like
drug addicts, unemployed men and men not in charge of their homes,
they are emotionally barren. For most, their entire life experience
is spent under the influence of women, and this totally consumes
their spirit, mind and body. These young men are highly emotional,
intensely angry and very reactive. They have no respect for manhood.

But the hatred these boys feel is still not as strong as their
longing for a father figure in their lives. Something must be
done to fill this void in order for our families and community
to grow and develop.

Congress is now considering legislation that may help to promote
fatherhood, but it is under assault by radical feminists who reject
the concept of marriage and family altogether.

The House of Representatives recently passed Congresswoman
Nancy Johnson's "Fathers Count Act" by an overwhelming
margin. The Senate may take up a similar bill from Senators Pete
Domenici and Evan Bayh in 2000. Realizing that an intact family
is a good way to fight poverty as well as raise happy and well-developed
children, the Johnson bill allocates government spending for "fatherhood
initiatives" to keep families together and boost a sense
of duty that might be wavering for some fathers.

In the Johnson bill, $235 million will be spent over five years
to "promote marriage [and] good parenting through counseling,
mentoring [and] disseminating information" about things like
relationship skills, money management and the encouragement of
timely child support payments and visitation in the event splits
occur. It also promotes "help[ing] fathers and their families
avoid or leave cash welfare" through job assistance and training
and other welfare-to-work programs. In a welcome change from previous
policy, this bill contains a "charitable choice" provision
to allow church-based groups previously ineligible for such support
aid to participate (these groups are sometimes the only provider
to poor communities). In addition, existing groups promoting fatherhood
can get grants to continue and expand their work.

Radical feminists from the National Organization for Women
(who hate men, I might add), however, are trying to derail this
bill. They make the ludicrous claim that the government "would
place more women and children at risk." They say this bill
would force a mother and child to stay with an abusive father
or tilt a custody fight in a father's favor. Incredibly, NOW executive
vice president Kim Gandy is quoted as saying, "I think promoting
marriage as a goal in and of itself is misguided."

Congresswoman Johnson counters that "NOW is ignoring what
is now broadly accepted by liberals, conservatives and moderates,
that children in single-parent families are more likely to suffer
abuse, do poorly in school and have poorer prospects to live above
the poverty level in their adult life." She also notes that
the bill promotes involved and responsible fatherhood regardless
of marital status.

It is clear that the radical feminist agenda is the destruction
of the family as we know it. They are sharply aware that taking
the father out of the home is the key to achieving this goal.
They also know that, over the last thirty to forty years, the
government has largely been their ally in this endeavor. There's
no way in hell, with an ultimate victory so close, that they would
ever consent to helping fathers back into homes.

I have seen - up close - the utter destruction that has been
inflicted on the black community when welfare helped push fathers
out of the home. The resulting chaos - unwed pregnancies, homes
without order, gang violence, drugs and mayhem - has been unprecedented.
This chaos has now spread all over America and across racial and
economic lines thanks to hateful elitist feminists.

It is time Americans woke up to this fact, and begin to seek
wisdom from those who want to help, not destroy.

###

(Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson is the founder and president of
the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, which is dedicated
to rebuilding the family through rebuilding the man. He can be
reached at [email protected].)

Note: New Visions Commentaries reflect the views
of their author, and not necessarily those of Project 21.